Formed December 29, 1824 (9th county)
Nassau County (90,355), Fernandina Beach (13,048)
The red brick courthouse of Nassau County is located on Centre Street at 5th Street. The site is four blocks west of Florida State Highway 200. It was built in 1892 in Italianate style architecture. A. E. McClure is the designer of this courthouse. The building was enlarged in 1909 and 1955 and renovated in 2002. It features a tower with a working clock. There was a Judicial Center added in 2003 in Yulee. Fernandina Beach replaced Sand Hill in 1861 as the county seat. The county was named for the Duchy of Nassau in Germany. Landowner Domingo Fernandez was the namesake for the county seat. The county was created on December 29, 1824 from Duval County as the 9th county.
Nassau County government consists of a manager, sheriff, and appraiser (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Thirty-four Circuit Court Judges serve Nassau, Clay, and Duval counties and a County Court Judge, clerk, and county attorney serve Nassau County (judicial.) The county is situated in the northeast corner of Florida on the Georgia border and on the Atlantic Ocean. The St. Mary’s River is the northern border with Georgia. The center of the county is 20.3 miles Southwest of Fernandina Beach nearer Yulee. The county is surrounded clockwise by Georgia and the Atlantic Ocean and Duval and Baker counties.
The area of the county is 652 square miles. It is 39 out of 67 counties in the state. It ranks 37 out of 67 in population in the state. It has a density of 138.6 persons per square mile making it 36 out of 67 in the state. Nassau County has 19.4% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 95 crosses north to south in the county from Georgia to Duval County. United States Highways 1/23 also enter from Georgia and exits into Duval County. United States Highway 17 parallels Interstate Highway 95 from Georgia to Duval County. United States Highway 301 enters joined with United States Highway 1, splits, and exits southwest into Duval County. The county is shaped like a pick axe. Fernandina Beach is in the northeast corner on the coast. Fernandina Beach is the county seat and the largest city. It is 14.4% of the county population. The county is pronounced NAS-SAW. The county seat is pronounced FER-NAN-DEE-NA BEE-CH. This county is in the Jacksonville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Callahan
Fernandina Beach
Hilliard
